To access all features of this site, you must enable Javascript. Here are the instructions for enabling Javascript in your web browser.
Fundamental Research Division
The DRF at the CEA assemble approximately 6,000 scientists since January 2016.
An international team led by IRFU and the Japanese research institute RIKEN was able to study the structure of a neutron-rich zirconium nucleus (110Zr)—a first, calling certain models into question. Produced by an accelerator at RIKEN and measured by the MINOS detector, this heavy nucleus proves to be more deformed than expected.
Helping scientists find their way through the data maze, DEDALE project intends to develop the next generation of data analysis methods for the new era of big data in astrophysics and compressed sensing.
Molecules developed at CEA-Institute Joliot can block the formation of the most virulent viral particles of vaccinia, a model of interest for the smallpox virus.
The light-collecting antennae in cyanobacteria can dissipate an overflow of light energy by fluorescence. This photoprotection mechanism remained unknown up to this point.
In a study published in Nature Astronomy, the new magazine by the Nature Group devoted to universe sciences, an international team involving IRFU finally revealed why our galaxy is moving at a velocity of 630 km/s.
Scientists from INAC have created an original system for mapping magnetic fields at a micronic scale, in a quantitative manner, and in real time. Its principle consists in observing the deformation across a field of thin, magnetic, light-reflecting “nanoribbons”.
The electronic noise of an NMR device is modulated by the nuclear spins of a sample placed inside the detecting coil. Scientists from IRAMIS have succeeded in building an analytical model to interpret this NMR signal of “spin noise”. This new approach makes it possible to measure tenuous isotopic effects, and provides NMR with a dramatic gain in “spectroscopic” sensitivity.
An international collaboration has discovered that large populations of bacteria in solution can spontaneously perform oscillating collective movements. A theoretician from IRAMIS showed that this observation illustrates a new long-range order emerging from local couplings between neighboring cells. This advance may inspire new strategies to control swarming robots and tissue bioengineering.
Researchers from INRA, CEA-INAC, and their partners have studied the effects of oral exposure to titanium dioxide, an additive in common foodstuffs (E171), including sweets. They provide the first evidence in animals that E171 penetrates the intestinal wall, thus entering the organism, and can create immune system disorders and induce pre-cancerous lesions in the colon.
Bacteriorhodopsin is a protein that transports protons through cell membranes—an essential function of biological systems. An international consortium involving IBS has "filmed" this transfer of protons.
Top page
CEA is a French government-funded technological research organisation in four main areas: low-carbon energies, defense and security, information technologies and health technologies. A prominent player in the European Research Area, it is involved in setting up collaborative projects with many partners around the world.